Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum. He was a Russian-born Canadian programmer who first shared the Ethereum whitepaper on November 27, 2013, while still a teenager. Ethereum.org lists eight co-founders in total: Buterin, Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, Jeffrey Wilcke, Mihai Alisie, Anthony Di Iorio, Amir Chetrit and Charles Hoskinson. The network went live on July 30, 2015. Today no person or company owns or controls it.
Vitalik Buterin: the person behind the idea
Ethereum.org says Buterin was born in 1994 in Russia and raised in Canada. He found Bitcoin in 2011 and co-founded Bitcoin Magazine with Mihai Alisie, which made it one of the first publications about cryptocurrency.
He has often told a story about where his distrust of centralised platforms came from. Reports quoting his former online bio have him writing that he "happily played World of Warcraft during 2007-2010, but one day Blizzard removed the damage component from my beloved Warlock's Siphon Life spell." The bio goes on: "I cried myself to sleep, and on that day I realized what horrors centralized services can bring." The quote comes from press reports of the bio. The original page is no longer online.
His whitepaper set out the central idea in one line: "What Ethereum intends to provide is a blockchain with a built-in fully fledged Turing-complete programming language." Bitcoin's scripting is deliberately limited. Ethereum would let developers write contracts with any logic they wanted, and the network would run them.
The eight co-founders and what each did
Anthony Di Iorio described the founding in two stages, as quoted on Wikipedia: "Ethereum was founded by Vitalik Buterin, Myself, Charles Hoskinson, Mihai Alisie & Amir Chetrit (the initial 5)" in December 2013. Joseph Lubin, Gavin Wood and Jeffrey Wilcke joined as founders in early 2014.
| Co-founder | Main contribution | What came next |
|---|---|---|
| Vitalik Buterin | Wrote the whitepaper and set the design | Still Ethereum's most prominent researcher |
| Gavin Wood | Wrote the Yellow Paper (April 1, 2014), the formal specification of the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Proposed and helped develop Solidity. First CTO of the Ethereum Foundation | Left the Foundation in January 2016. Co-founded Parity Technologies (formerly Ethcore), founded the Web3 Foundation and wrote the Polkadot white paper |
| Joseph Lubin | Helped fund early development | Founded Consensys in 2014. Its products include MetaMask (2016) and Infura (November 2016) |
| Jeffrey Wilcke | Created Geth, the Go client for Ethereum | — |
| Mihai Alisie | Helped set up the Ethereum Foundation in Switzerland and served as its vice president | — |
| Anthony Di Iorio | One of the initial five and an early backer | — |
| Amir Chetrit | One of the initial five | — |
| Charles Hoskinson | Chief executive in the earliest phase | Left in 2014. Co-founded IOHK late that year, the company behind Cardano |
Why the group split: non-profit or company
The first big disagreement was about structure. Hoskinson wanted a commercial venture, and Buterin wanted a non-profit. At a meeting of the founders in Zug, Switzerland, in 2014, Buterin decided the project would be a non-profit. Hoskinson left. Development first ran through Ethereum Switzerland GmbH, and the Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss non-profit, later took on that role.
How Ethereum was built: key dates
- November 27, 2013: Buterin shares the whitepaper.
- April 1, 2014: Gavin Wood releases the Yellow Paper.
- July 22 – September 2, 2014: A 42-day ether sale in exchange for bitcoin. ETH started at 2,000 per BTC and fell to 1,337 per BTC. Ethereum.org says it raised 31,000 BTC, about $18 million at the time.
- April 2015: The Olympic testnet, the last test phase before launch.
- July 30, 2015, 15:26:13 UTC: Frontier, the first live network. The genesis block is mined.
- March 14, 2016: Homestead, the first planned upgrade.
- July 20, 2016: The DAO fork, at block 1,920,000. It followed a hack that drained over 3.6 million ETH. Over 85% of votes supported it. Miners who opposed it kept the original chain, which became Ethereum Classic.
- August 5, 2021: The London upgrade added EIP-1559 and its base fee, which is burned.
- September 15, 2022: The Merge moved Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. Ethereum.org cites the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute: "The Merge reduced Ethereum's annualized electricity consumption by more than 99.988%."
- April 12, 2023: Shapella turned on staking withdrawals.
- March 13, 2024: Dencun added proto-danksharding (EIP-4844), which made data cheaper for rollups.
- May 7, 2025: Pectra raised the maximum effective validator balance to 2,048 ETH (EIP-7251) and added EIP-7702.
- December 3, 2025: Fusaka.
From whitepaper to Glamsterdam
Step through the dated milestones from Buterin's 2013 whitepaper to the October 2026 status of Glamsterdam.
- November 27, 2013Whitepaper shareddone
Vitalik Buterin shares the Ethereum whitepaper, proposing a blockchain with a built-in Turing-complete programming language.
- April 1, 2014Yellow Paperdone
Gavin Wood releases the Yellow Paper, the formal specification of the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
- July 22 – September 2, 201442-day ether saledone
ETH sold for bitcoin, starting at 2,000 per BTC and falling to 1,337 per BTC. Ethereum.org says it raised 31,000 BTC, about $18 million at the time.
- April 2015Olympic testnetdone
The last test phase before launch.
- July 30, 2015Frontier goes livedone
The first live network; the genesis block is mined at 15:26:13 UTC.
- March 14, 2016Homesteaddone
The first planned upgrade.
- July 20, 2016The DAO forkdone
At block 1,920,000, after a hack drained over 3.6 million ETH. Over 85% of votes supported it; the original chain became Ethereum Classic.
- August 5, 2021Londondone
Adds EIP-1559 and its base fee, which is burned.
- September 15, 2022The Mergedone
Ethereum moves from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. Ethereum.org cites a cut in annualized electricity use of more than 99.988%.
- April 12, 2023Shapelladone
Turns on staking withdrawals.
- March 13, 2024Dencundone
Adds proto-danksharding (EIP-4844), making data cheaper for rollups.
- May 7, 2025Pectradone
Raises the maximum effective validator balance to 2,048 ETH (EIP-7251) and adds EIP-7702.
- December 3, 2025Fusakadone
The upgrade before Glamsterdam.
- October 6, 2026Glamsterdam on Sepoliadone
The next upgrade goes live on the Sepolia testnet.
- October 22, 2026Hoodi date postponedpostponed
The October 26 Hoodi date is postponed after core developers on ACDE #248 chose to study how EIP-8037 interacts with contracts already on mainnet. No new Hoodi date and no mainnet date have been set.
This lists only the dates the article states: it does not explain each upgrade in depth, predict when Glamsterdam reaches mainnet, or cover the co-founders' roles.
Where things stand in October 2026
The next upgrade is Glamsterdam. Its main changes are enshrined proposer-builder separation, block-level access lists and new gas pricing. It went live on the Sepolia testnet on October 6, 2026. On October 16 the Ethereum Foundation scheduled it for the Hoodi testnet on October 26. On October 22 that date was postponed after core developers, on call ACDE #248, chose to study how EIP-8037 interacts with smart contracts already on mainnet. No new Hoodi date has been set. No mainnet date has been set either. Ethereum.org's upgrade list shows Glamsterdam as "TBD."
Buterin is still publishing research. The latest post on his blog, "The cryptographic world computer," is dated September 27, 2026.
Does anyone own Ethereum?
No. Ethereum.org says the network "has no CEO, board, or single controlling party" and that "no one person or organization can change Ethereum's rules or shut down the network on their own." Since the Merge, validators who stake ETH secure the network. The Ethereum Foundation funds research and development but does not control the protocol. Changes go through an open process: client teams and core developers agree on them on public calls, as the Glamsterdam delay shows, and node operators then choose to run the new software.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the father of Ethereum?
Vitalik Buterin. He wrote the whitepaper that proposed it in late 2013.
How many founders does Ethereum have?
Eight: Vitalik Buterin, Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, Jeffrey Wilcke, Mihai Alisie, Anthony Di Iorio, Amir Chetrit and Charles Hoskinson.
When was Ethereum launched?
July 30, 2015, with the Frontier release. That was about 20 months after the whitepaper.
How much did the Ethereum crowdsale raise?
Ethereum.org says 31,000 BTC, about $18 million at 2014 prices.
Did Gavin Wood create Solidity?
He proposed it and helped develop it. He also wrote the Yellow Paper that specifies the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
How is Ethereum different from Bitcoin?
Bitcoin was built as peer-to-peer electronic cash and has deliberately limited scripting. Ethereum was built to run general-purpose programs, called smart contracts, on a shared blockchain.
Limitations: the co-founder roles and departure details come from Wikipedia and company pages rather than from statements by the founders. The World of Warcraft quote comes from press reports of a bio that is no longer online.
